Japanese Hybrid Factories in Australia: Analysing Labor Relations and Reflecting on the Work of Tetsuo Abo

This paper provides an analysis of Japanese hybrid factories in Australia in a context of labor relations aspect of the Japanese management and production system. The paper argues that the labor relations aspect of the Japanese system is the most successful transfer to Australia. In its second part the paper compares the data from Australia with Tetsuo Abo’s research in the UK and the US where ‘labor relations’ is the most successful transfer detected by Abo. This paper is not a reconstruction of Abo’s hybrid framework but instead seeks to draw a qualified comparative analysis using Abo’s results. The paper argues that there is a parallel between research findings from the UK, the US and Australia in terms of the success of labor relations that is inherent to the Japanese management and production system. It is suggested that future research can investigate this point with larger comparative data sets.